1 Kings 8:1-9:9 "The Dedication of the Temple" Did you notice that there was no reference to any music or singing? Kings isn't interested in that side of things. Chronicles gives more detail regarding the liturgy of the dedication of the temple, but the simplicity of Kings' account points in a different direction. The central feature of this account is Solomon's prayer. And as you can see from the structure of the sermon in your bulletin, the passage itself is structured around this prayer. 1. The Sacrifices: Entering Worship (8:1-11) Verses 1-2 set up the context for us. Solomon assembles the elders of Israel in Jerusalem for the feast of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles a fitting time for the dedication of the temple, since it was the feast that reminded Israel how they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. The feast that commemorated their dwelling in tents was the feast that Solomon chose to unveil the glory of the temple the place where God's name would dwell in the midst of his people. After all, the point of the feast of tabernacles was not just to remember. Certainly it pointed back to the Exodus, but it also pointed forward. Even as Israel would not wander in the wilderness forever, so also God would establish a permanent dwelling for his name. And so at the Feast of Tabernacles, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and dedicated the temple. Verse 66 reminds us that this feast was an 8-day feast. The feasts of Israel have an eight-day structure. Passover is a seven-day feast that finds its completion on the day after the seventh seven the 50th day of Pentecost. And Tabernacles is an eight-day feast. Circumcision is on the eighth day, and the consecration of the priest (and the cleansing of the unclean) last eight days. In other words, salvation is all about the eighth day the beginning of the new creation. The dedication of the temple is also connected to Sinai. Sinai was the place where Israel had come to worship God for the first time. At Sinai God had established his covenant with Israel, and Solomon's pattern of worship echoes that of Moses in Exodus 24. All Israel comes together to worship God, gathered together in the sacred assembly. It is worth watching Solomon in this worship service: In verse 12, as he speaks to God, he is facing the temple, because in verse 14 he turns toward the people and blesses them. Then in verse 22 he stood before the altar in the presence of the people and spread out his hands toward heaven. We discover in verse 54 that he then knelt and with uplifted hands offered his great prayer. Then he arose (v54) and stood (v55) and blessed the people. Posture in worship is not irrelevant. I'm not going to argue that Solomon's example is determinative for us. But it is worth pointing out that when Solomon addresses God, he is facing the altar; and when he addresses the people, he is facing the people. It is not a big deal, but that is why I lift up my hands, palm upwards, when I am praying to God. And that is why I lift up my hands, palm outwards towards you when I am blessing you. For that matter, that is why I come down from the pulpit and stand among you when I give the declaration of pardon. Because God did not simply proclaim forgiveness from on high God himself came and tabernacled among us. Our God is near to those who call upon him and I try to demonstrate that in my actions during the service, as well as my words. In verses 4-9 we hear how the priests and Levites brought the ark of the covenant to the temple. As they bring up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy vessels, King Solomon and all the congregation are sacrificing sheep and oxen without count. In verse 63 we hear that the peace offerings alone numbered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. There is no way to come into worship without a sacrifice. The burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings is consumed in the fire as the LORD deals with the sin of his people. Without the blood of the sacrifice, there is no forgiveness of sins. We cannot enter the presence of God without it! This hasn't changed since Solomon's day! What has changed is that we have the final sacrifice in the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Verse 9 is the last we hear of the ark. The ark was crucial to the life of Israel in the book of Samuel, but after the building of the temple, it is not nearly as important. It was a sign of the Mosaic covenant, but with the advent of the temple, the Mosaic covenant is in some respects supplanted by the Davidic covenant. You see this in the focus of Solomon's service on God's faithfulness to David. (Indeed, Jeremiah 3:16 says that when God restores Israel and Judah, then no one will care that the ark of the covenant is missing, because Jerusalem is the throne of the LORD. The ark is a temporary sign of God's presence.) But when the ark the sign of the Mosaic covenant is brought into the Most Holy Place the sign of the Davidic covenant a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Do you realize that this is what God does in our midst? The glory of the LORD fills his house! As we worship him, he fills us with his Spirit. We are the Spirit-filled, the "glory-filled" house of God. If we are the temple if we are the place where God dwells with his people then we need to recognize that this is exactly what happens to us in our worship! 2. The Sermon: Blessing the LORD for Doing What He Has Promised (8:12-21) Having assembled the people of God for worship through the sacrifices, Solomon then declares the Word of the LORD. Verses 12-13 contains the "reading" as it were of the Word. The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever. This functions as the "text" for Solomon's sermon. Solomon's "sermon" expounds how God has been faithful in doing what he promised. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, "Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there." For 500 years God has wandered in the midst of his people. But now God has chosen David. Solomon understands that this is the most important moment in Israel's history since the Exodus. Indeed, from the perspective of Solomon's day, the building of the temple constitutes something of a New Covenant. For us, looking back, we can see that the Davidic Covenant was a part of the Mosaic Covenant, but in Solomon's day, the Davidic Covenant is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant. There is a sense in which David is to Moses what Jesus is to David, Moses, Abraham, and Adam. In Solomon's day the whole of redemptive history has been leading up to this moment. The dedication of the Temple is the climax of the covenant the highest peak in all the mountain range of redemptive history. But of course, today we see that the Davidic mountain was little more than a molehill compared to the surpassing greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. To a child who has never left the state of Indiana, Mt Baldy (in the Indiana Dunes by Lake Michigan) is a tall mountain; but when you have seen the Rocky Mountains, Mt Baldy is just a sand dune! But let us remember and appreciate the glory of that day! Because this was the day in which God fulfilled with his hand what he had spoken with his mouth, and now the Son of David sat on the throne of Israel, and had completed the temple the house for the name of the LORD! And now the Mosaic Covenant had come to its completion as the ark of the covenant had found its resting place in the temple of Yahweh. 3. The Prayer: Asking God to Continue to Do What He Has Promised (8:22-53) Solomon's prayer is a model intercessory prayer. It starts by reflecting on the faithfulness of God's Word. O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. God is faithful. Do you open your prayers by remembering God's faithfulness? "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!" Then Solomon asks God to continue his faithfulness. This is the proper attitude of our prayers: Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.' Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. O God, you have been faithful, so please continue to be faithful! There is nothing wrong with praying for specific things. But before you get to the details, remember to set the context for the details! Why are you praying for this thing? It is because of who God is it is because of God's faithfulness in Jesus Christ! Only then does Solomon turn to the intercessions themselves. And he starts by locating prayer in its geographical context. You might think that having just built a temple, that Solomon would forget and think that the temple was God's dwelling place. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Solomon does not imagine that the temple can contain God. The temple is not God's dwelling place it is but the footstool where his name dwells. Or, to say it another way, it is the place where earth and heaven meet. That is why he goes on to say in verses 28-29: Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant [singular, referring to himself] and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. Solomon asks that God would heed the prayers of the king. Remember what we saw in Samuel. Israel has failed. The King is now called to be all that Israel had failed to be. If the King is faithful, then Israel has hope at least, if Israel follows his king! That is why Solomon in verse 30 then connects the king with his people: and listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. The temple is the place where earth and heaven meet. All the prayers of the people of God meet in this place and ascend with the smoke of the incense up into the heavens. And Solomon prays that God will hear those prayers and forgive his people. After all, Israel has failed. The focus of Solomon's prayer is on forgiveness. Over and over again he asks God to forgive Israel. Because that is what the temple is for! The temple is the place where God forgives sins and without the forgiveness of sins, what is the point of prayer? God will not hear the prayer of the wicked! If God does not forgive our sins, then what is the point of prayer?! Verses 31-51 then apply this principle to every aspect of life. If a man sins against his neighbor and takes an oath before your altar, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. Solomon recognizes that human courts will sometimes be unable to give justice. But in such times, he calls upon God to render justice! Or when Israel is defeated by their enemies because of their sins, Solomon prays that God would forgive them for their sins, and restore them to their land. Or when there is a drought (verses 35-36) or a famine, locusts or plague or warfare (verse 37), whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind) It is not merely a matter of praying toward the temple as though the temple is a magical talisman. When you pray toward the temple, remember that God knows your heart. And he will respond according to your heart and according to your ways, not simply according to your words. Jesus said in John 4, that neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father, but rather you will worship him in Spirit and in truth. Jesus is the temple of the Living God. He is the place where you worship. And when you pray toward heaven when you pray toward Jesus God hears you, not simply according to your words, but according to your heart, and according to your ways. That is what Paul meant when he said that the Spirit prays on our behalf. Verses 41-43 then demonstrates that Solomon understood the purpose of this house. It is a house of prayer for all nations. Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm) when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. For Solomon the point of the temple is that all nations would come to faith and repentance. Verses 44-45 then ask God to maintain Israel's cause in battle at least when Israel goes forth "by whatever way you shall send them." The implication is that if God does not send Israel into battle, then no prayer can avail! Verses 46-51 then turn to the inevitable: If they sin against you for there is no one who does not sin! This is not really an "if" but a "when"! When they sin, and you hand them over to their enemies and send them into exile... Solomon knew that this would happen. Moses had said so back in Deuteronomy, and Israel had a 500 year pattern by now, so even an idiot could have predicted this! But when this happens, and when they repent, Lord, have mercy! And when they pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. And bring about a new Exodus. Solomon foresees the exile. His temple will not keep Israel faithful. His hope is not in Israel, nor in the kingship, nor in the temple, but that God will have mercy, and give life to the dead. 4. The Benediction: Blessing the Assembly Because of God's Promises (8:54-61) In verses 54-61 we hear Solomon's benediction. He blessed the whole assembly of Israel, saying Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. If you had any doubt that Solomon thinks of the temple as the conclusion of the Mosaic covenant, here is conclusive proof! Israel has received everything that God promised through Moses! The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant [the king] and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day. Through the servant (the king) and Israel his people, the temple will become a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). [If you connect Solomon's idea of the King as the "servant" with Isaiah's understanding of the Servant, you can see how Jesus understands himself as the suffering servant!] 5. The Covenant Meal: Feasting Before the LORD (8:62-66) Notice also that the worship of Israel concludes with the covenant meal the peace offerings. 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were offered as peace offerings. That's a lot of meat! There would be enough food for hundreds of thousands of people. And indeed, we are told that all Israel was gathered to him, and all Israel celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day the people returned to their homes. On the eighth day they rejoiced for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people. As we have seen before, every biblical worship service has the same basic pattern. The people of God enter worship through the blood of the sacrifice, the Word of God is proclaimed, the people of God respond with their prayers and praises, and then the people of God partake of the covenant meal, and go forth with God's blessing. This is why our worship follows that same pattern. Because it is not only Israel's pattern it is the very pattern of redemptive history, from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Epilogue: God's Response to Solomon's Prayer (9:1-9) Notice God's response in 9:1-9. It is said to be God's second appearance to Solomon, reminding us of the first time at Gibeon, when God had promised him wisdom. And the LORD appeared to Solomon and said, I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. How can this be? God forsook his temple, and it was destroyed only 400 years later! Even after it was rebuilt, it only lasted another 600 years. It has lain in ruins for the last 2000 years. Jesus said, Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days. Yes, God was referring to the house of stone and wood and gold. But the house of stone and wood and gold pointed beyond itself to Jesus. He is the temple. He is the place where God's name dwells forever! The conditional character of the Solomonic covenant is revealed in verses 4-9. If Solomon walks before God with integrity of heart, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father. God promised Israel (his firstborn son) that he would give them the land but he warned them that if they rebelled, he would destroy them and exile them. Even so, God promised David that he would never lack a man to sit on his throne but he warned him that if you turn aside from following me, you or your children... then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them. Israel has failed. Israel's hope is now pinned on the house of David on the heirs of Solomon. If the king fails, even the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. The phrase "cast out" is the word used to refer to divorce. You might expect God to say that he will "destroy" his house, but instead he says that he will cast out or divorce his house. This simply reinforces the imagery of the temple as a feminine house the place where God meets with his beloved people. Note that God does not expect perfect obedience from Solomon. After all, he uses David as the standard (verse 4). If Solomon is as faithful as David, then you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. David was a sinner, but he never turned aside to worship other gods. The key is idolatry. If the sons of David maintain exclusive devotion to Yahweh, then the house of David will never fail, and the house of the LORD will endure. This is confirmed by the conclusion in verse 9: Why has the LORD done this? Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them. After all, Solomon had just prayed that God would forgive the sin of his people! God does not expect that you will be perfect. (Remember verse 46, 'for there is no one who does not sin') Rather, he expects that you will worship him. He expects that when you sin, that you will repent and ask forgiveness. He expects that when you are tempted, you will flee to Christ! He expects that you will turn from idolatry and find contentment in him. After all, our God is the God of the prodigal son the God who is ever ready and willing to forgive! So let us turn our hearts toward heaven, toward the living temple, our Lord Jesus Christ, and let us draw near as those who are washed in his blood, and let us come into the holy of holies with full assurance of faith, and let us pray!